Detachable and folding luggage carrier



Dec; 8, 1931. c. E. FENDORF DETACHABLE AND FOLDING LUGGAGE CARRIER Filed July 27, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l abtomq Dec. 8, 1931. c. E. FENDORF DETACHABLE AND FOLDING LUGGAGE CARRIER Filed July 27, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllull l Patented Dec. 8, 1931 PATENT OFFICE cHARLEsR EnnoRF; F O'IUSCUMBIA, MISSOURI DETACHAZBLE AND-FOLDING LUGGAGE CARRIER Application filed July 27,

This invention relates to luggagecarriers for automobiles andparticularly to a luggage carrier in the form of a roof fi oor designed to be placed upon the top of such automobiles as carry a largeinumher of passengers and travel long distances though the invention is not restricted to these. v

One of the-objects of the invention is to provide a verysimpledevice of this character which may be disposed over the roof or top of the automobile and attachedthereto without the necessity of boring any holes through the top or roof, inserting any bolts or marring the surfacerof the automobile. t

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of this characterwhich is to a certain extent flexible so that it fits the curvature of the automobile top and so that it may be rolled up or folded up and stored. in one corner of a garage in a relatively compact bundle or inside of the car. 7 A A further object is to provide a device of this character which maybe used to carry the luggage, ordinarily carried on the inside of the car, or the running boards thereof, thus eliminating the inconvenience of blocking up the doorways or in getting in and out.

A further object is to, provide particularly advantageous means, whereby theluggage carrier may be held in position-upon, the. top of the car. 3 d

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. 3

My-invention is illustratedin the accom panying drawings, wherein i Figurel is asideelevation of a machine equipped with my improvedlu'ggage carrier;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the: luggage carrier; 1 1

Figure 3 is atop plan View thereof;'

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevation partly broken away; p

Figure 5 is a perspective view of oneof the spring irons used in connection with the body of the automobile;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary elevation showing a modified manner of connectingone of the uprights to the side boards.

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that the luggage carrier consists of a plu- 1929. Serial No. 881,558.

intermediate, longitudinally extending boards 12. These boards have a length approximately that of the top of the automobile and. the canvas strips 10 have length approximately equal to the width of the automobile top. d I Detachably engaged with the ends of the longitudina lt side boards 11 and extending over the'to'p's of the boards 12 are the cross members 13 which are preferably bolted to the boards 11 by means of wing nuts and bolts 14 though I do not wish to be limited to this. Mounted upon the boards 11 at intervals and extending up therefrom are a plurality of uprights 15 and I have shown four of these uprights on each side, though, of course, any number maybe used. These uprights are connected to the boards 11 by means to'be later stated and carry upon them the longitudinally extendingfrailsllG held in place the bolts 1.7. IMounted upon the cross piecesl at the middles thereof are the uprights 18 to which'transverse rails 19 are bolted or otherwise attached. Bolts 20 pass through the ends of these rails 19 and through theend uprights l5.whereby these rails 19 which constitute the end frames of the luggage carrier are detachably connected toi the posts 15,, with the rails 16 constitutin the side frame of the luggage carrier. The uprights 15 may be connected to the 'boardsll in any suitablemanner and they may be either hinged to the boards 11 by a hinge 21 as shown in Figure 2 or held rigidly connected thereto by an angle iron 21 as in Figure 6. If theuprights 15 are hinged to the board 11, itis possible to fold the side frames downward toward the board 11. Of ourse, if angle irons are used this is impossible. t

It will be seen that with this construction when the bolts 20 are removed and the bolts 14 removed, each end frame formed of the cross piece 13, the uprights18 and the rails For the purpose of holding the luggage-- carrier upon the roof of the automobile.

without damaging the root in any way and without the necessity ofiboring-holesin theroof, I preferably provide at the front and rear the outwardly extending metallic strips or spring irons designated 22. The inner end of each iron is attached to the corresponding board llby means of a bolt having a wing nutdesignated'23 and the iron is .bent so as to extend'over the cross piece 13' andthen extend on outwardand'atits end'the. iron'is provided with an opening 24 through which a cord25 p asses,',this cord being knotted or otherwise formed so'that" its endwill not pass through the opening 24. The free end of this cord' is attached to the sunshade bracket by any suitable means while atthe rear end, the cord 25 extends downward (and over a pulley 26 and upwardito anordinary wooden clamp 27 through which the cord'25 passes as shown in Figure 1, this wood "clamp beingof the type ordinarilyusedfOr tight= ening tentropes or the like. By pulling upon this clamp," the rope 25may be tightenedto any desired extenti Thepulley 26 is engaged with the-rear. fendersofthe car or with any other convenientproj ection from the. chassis of the car by means of'wires'or'ropes or in any other suitable manner. The front cords 25 may also be provided with meanswlfereby the tension may be takennp so that. the luggage ca rricr'will b'e held firmly in place. Itpwill be noted "that the'irons 22 are so attached by the bolts 23to. the'memb'ers 11 that they mayv be swung inward to. lieentirely '5 within the limits ofthe luggagecarrier so as to permit the luggage carrier to'be-folded into a compact bundle without these irons projecting out therefrom. These irons are preferablymade of tempered spring steel for the reason that' the ordinary; wrought iron would ben-dand stay bent with anverysli'ght pull upon it' and'cast iron would liable to break. .while tempered steel will. withstand considerable pull withoutbending much and will regain its shape when the: pressure is removed These spring irons permit'tlieluggage carrier to be attached;to the top'of 'a car without using bolts or screws through the top of thecar a-nd'inasmuch .as these spring irons project-beyond theroofof'the car, itis anv easymatter to secure a straight downward pull upon the luggage carrier which will hold it in place withoutth'e necessity ofholding it in place by cables,.straps or 'cords whiclrwill extend u-pwardover the edges of the roof and then horizontally over the roof which would be very liable to chafe the roof. VVith this construction, there is no danger of chafing the roof while at the same time the luggage carrier is held firmly in place thereon with a spring therethrough which yields sufficiently when the car is subjected to stresses which tend to deform the roof or shiftthe car relative to the chassis. It will beseenthat thes spring irons constitute elements projecting from the luggage carrier beyond-:the: car,- .thus-=permitting, as before stated, cables or other connections to be attached .which" will draw directly downward upon the luggage carrier without injuring the roof ofthe' car or chafing it.

lvhilepreferably"I use aspring iron 22 at the forwardend ot'the automobile top and spring iron 22 also at the-rearend, these irons projecting'out some little distance beyondthe top iir=order to secure resiliency, Ido notwish to be limited to this, asthe irons might'berelatively shortand attached to the carrier inany suitable "manner and it these irons are short, they would, under these circumstances, not have'the resilience of the relativelyslong spring irons.

WVhere these'springs-irons 22 are used, the bolts l l m-ight under somecircumstances be omitted,- the sp-rin'girons acting to hold the cross pieces 13 in place upon the boards 11.

It'wi'llbe seen that this luggage supporting-frameor'carriermay be attached to the top of: the carwithout marring the car in a-ny 'way andwitliou-t-inany way changing the structure of the car and that the canvas willcause the luggage carrier to conform to the transverse curvature of the car, the cross pieces 13 bending to suit this curvature when the luggage is placed within the rack or carrrer;

Preferably hooks or eyelets 28. will be disposed at intervals along the boards 11 for the attachmen-totthe canvas covering, not shown, which may be drawnover the luggage. in the carrier and then tied at these books. Obviously alargeramount of luggage may be stored upon thisluggage carrier than upon lOO the running boardfofan automobile and at p the same time the luggage may be more oi fectively protected from the weather and without any'inconvenience such .as is due to' the'obstruetion caused by luggage placed upon the running board and obstructing the doors and the entrance or exit of passengers.

By using the springirons 22, the cords 25 may be kept clear of'the'top of the car and WiILnOt-"Chafethe finish, though it will be understood-that feltpieces might be placed beneath the cords where they touch. the car and thus no damage caused to the automobile.

It'is of course, to be' understood that the cross pieces 13 aresufiicien'tly flexible to conform to any transverse curvature of the car top particularly as thereis rarely more than {three-fourths the car to more than one and a half inch'cu'rve longiand the"bolts"whichlconnect the cross pieces 19' to the uprights15 also pass through jlike adjustmentslot's inthemembers 1 5 and the uprights 18. Thus 'therail 16and the rails 19 may be vertically adjusted. 37 These adjustments permit ofthe device being flexible enough -to conform to the "longitudinal and transverse curvatures of the upper surface of the car top. Not -many cars have tudinally but if more curve is nece'ssary, the

entire side frame canbe bent to some extent. If the carrier, ho'wever',"be used altogether including transversely extending Webs of flexible-material, side boards mounted upon":

on on'e particular car, it would not be necessary "to have any" adjustment slots but the bottom side members-11 could be-bent tothe I curvature of the cartop" and then the side g corner posts. "The adjustment slots, howcarrier. The wing-nuts 17 ean be'floosened to assume a straight position,- after having been flexed to *fit the curvature of the can top, 80"

rails '16 could be fastened by screwsto the e'VerQare an advantage "wherr'roll ingup the and i this will permit the bottom-"memberdl which permits the'carrie'r to-roll up into "a neater bundle thanwhen the members-are curved, but' the carrier will roll up} even though the membes 511 are curved;

' Another advantage in having adjustment slots in the corner "posts 15 andthe posts 18 is that the siderails'16 and end rails 19 can be n'i'ade to match where they meet at the cor- While I have ill ustrated in Figure 2 the hinges 21,as being disposed'alternatelyin V eluding transversely extending webs of fabopposite directions,I'do not'wishto be li'mited to this as all but oneendhingemight be disposed in the same direction; I v .Also by removing the bolts l7 from this corner post, this cornerfpost could be bolted flatdown and all the other corner posts would= swing in opposite directions with the rails attached thereto and then the sides will fold down until the rails 16 contact with each other, thus making a compact bundle.

lVhile I have referred to the elements 10 as being canvas belting, I do not wish to be limited to this as I may use rubber belting having canvas threads therethrough. Thisprevents the webs from shrinking when wet.

\Vhile I have illustrated certain details of construction and arrangement of parts, I do not wish to be limited thereto as many minor changes might be made Without departing l "5. Aluggage carryingfloor 'for:an automob le roof includlng long1tud1nal spaced floor-boards and transversely extending,

from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

It will, of course, be understood that with this construction, it will be possible to use ascratch the top. tobe lifted over thera-ils at the side and ends the luggage carrier, the. rear orfront rails may 'beremoved and thus the luggage may be very readily handled eitherin removing it canvas cover which may extend entirely over "the luggage dISPOSQCl within the carrier and thus-the luggage can be readily protected and much more effeetively 'protected from the weather and fromdust, than if the luggage were carried'on the'runningboards. It will likewise.beobvious that the luggage is supported out of contact with the roof itself but the luggage will rest upon the longitudinal boards 12 and: thus will not mar or If the luggageis too heavy from the luggage-carrier orplacing it thereon.

I claim: 1 a 1. A luggage carrier for automobile roofs angles thereto, floor boards mounted at intervals'upon said webs and-attached thereto and extending parallel to'the side boards, posts inountedupon theside boards and having railsy and end frames detachably mounted 'upon the floor boards and side boards-and detachably engaged with the adjacent posts. "23A luggage'carrier constituting a floor forautomobil-e roofs including longitudinally-extending laterally spaced floor boards,

transversely extending spaced strips of soft material flexibly-disposedbeneath the boards and connecting thvboards. to each other whereby the boards maybe folded in parallel relation when not in use, the side floor boards carrying side frames, and 'end frames detachably supported upon the ends of the floor boardsand detaehably engaged with the side frames and meansgfor holding the carrier engaged with the roof of an automobile.

0.:A luggage carrier forautomobiles inric, longitudinally extending floor boards attached-thereto and including side boards,

the uprights may be turned to a. lowered position when folded, and end frames detachably engaged with the adjacent uprights.

4:. A luggage carrier constituting a floor for. an automobile roof lncluding transversely extending-spacedwebs of soft, flexible mate'rial,longitudinal spaced floor boards atfloorboards may be folded upon each other when out of use, the upwardly extending sideframes co-extensive with and mounted upon the side floor boards and foldable there with. a 1

spaced webs of soft flexible material to which the floorboards are'attached and uon which 'tacha-bly-tconnecting saidi transverse rails' to "they-rest whereby the-floor boar s-may be folded into. arallel relation when not :in use, andside an end: frames. adapted to be mounted uponthe floor boards. c

6. A luggage carrying floorfor an automobile --roof including transversely extending, relatively soft, flexible webs,-lngitudfor the rootsof aniautomobile andiadapted' to the corner posts for vertical adjustment with "relation theretoy .10. A luggage carrier constituting a floor 7 ,rest upon'the: top of the :a'utomobile, means inally extending floor boards extending at right-angles to the Webs attached to the upper .faces of said webs whereby the floor boards may be folded upon each other when not in use, side frames mounted upon the side floor boards and 1 end frames -detachably supported upon the ends of the floor boards and detachablyengagedwith the side frames.

for holding .the luggage carrierin place includi-ngmem-bers projecting beyond; the luggage carrier and'adapted to extend beyond the automobile roof, cords passing through, 75

i the ends ofsaid membersand having means vwhereby they may be engaged with the auto- .mobile and tightened to hold the luggage V carrierin place.

7. A luggage carrier constituting a floor for an automobile roof including transversely ing the luggage carr er-in place upon the roof extendin flexiblewebs, side boards attached to the ends of said-webs, floor boards extend- "ing: parallelto theside boards and'attaehed to said webs, uprights mountedu-pon the side boards, and including corner posts, longitud-inal rails connected to-said uprights, cross pieces adapted to rest upon the floor boards and side boards,- uprights mounted upon said cross pieces, railslon the last named uprights,

Y and means for detachably connecting-said transverse rails to the'cornerposts whereby 30. to perm-it the cross pieces .and transverse raj-ls to be removed from their engagement with the floor boards'and uprights of the car- I rier and the carrier to be folded.

8. A- luggage carrier constituting a floor for an automobile roof including transversely extending flexible webs, side boardsia-ttached to the ends of saidwebs, floorboards extending parallel to the side boards and atinchidiing resihent irons. attached to the floor 11. A-luggage carrier constitutinga -floor tor the root-of an automobile including lon gitudinally extending floor boards flexibly connected to each other, and means for hold- 1 boardsiand projecting beyond the; same and adapted -to pnojectcbeyondl'the-roof of the Z automobile, bolts; pivotally connecting said irons to the-floorboards whereby the: irons Lima-y be turned inward u on the floor boards! 1 to permit. the floor boar s to folded upon" each otheraand words I passing; through the i ends-ct the ironsandhaving meanswhereby they;,ma y be engaged Withwthe automobile hand tightened to holdthe luggage carrier vin ll :place.

12. luggage carrying floor fo'r an automobile roof including parallel floorboards spaced from each pther a plurality of spaced webs of flexiblev relatively soft fabric dis fl ,posed I-beneath theafioor boards and extending'at: right angles thereto and towhich the floor boards are attached, the webs-flexibly tached to said webs, uprights -mounted mounted upon said uprights,- and means for V detachably connect-ing the transversely extending rails to the corner. posts whereby to permit the :cross piecesiand transverse ra'i'ls connecting the floor boards toeach other and A protecting, the. roof .of; the automobile Q fmm contactwith the floor boards, the floorboards (being thus foldableauponeach other, and

means engaged with the automobile forlholdingthe luggage carrier-andfloor in place upon the automobile roof. I In testimony whereof Izaflix my signaturef'" E. FENDORF.

to be removed from their engagement with pieces ada ted to rest upon the ends of the floor boan s and-side boards-and detachably 1 engaged therewith, uprights; carried "by said said uprights for vertical adjustment, cross cross pieces,- rails'mounted upon said uprights 'forvertical adjustment, aud t-means for de- 

